The budget required to fix damaged healthcare facilities in the Eastern Cape and North West exceeds R160 million.
The Eastern Cape and North West provinces have a worrying backlog of unmaintained and damaged healthcare facilities.
Six of the nine provinces recently revealed their expenditure linked to disaster repairs, with two standing out due to the number of projects that have yet to be allocated the required budget.
The numbers exclude any recent weather events, as the figures provided date back to 2023 at the latest.
R128 million on 79 projects
The Department of Health (DoH) compiled the figures for a recent written response to a question submitted in parliament.
Since the 2023-24 financial year, R128 million was spent on 79 external repair projects at healthcare facilities across four provinces.
The repairs were made necessary by weather damage that was negatively affecting patients and staff, but some took the opportunity to simultaneously address maintenance issues.
“Some of the facilities cost more than the rain damages because the provinces took advantage of the repair of storm damage to renovate some parts of the facilities, which deteriorated because of ageing and not necessarily rain damage,” the department’s response clarified.
Mpumalanga, the Free State, and the Northern Cape did not submit their figures, with the department explaining the reason for one of those.
“The Mpumalanga budget is divided equally per facility because they procured materials in bulk and gave them to the artisans to repair the damages,” stated the department.
Outstanding projects
The cost of the unaddressed repairs in the Eastern Cape and North West surpassed the amount spent by the four provinces that disclosed their expenditure.
The Eastern Cape has 17 projects outstanding with a combined value of R128.3 million, while the North West has 29 repairs unattended to with an estimated cost of R40 million.
In all 46 cases, the provincial departments report that they are waiting for budget allocations.
Areas of concern in the North West include a combined R18.5 million needed at three major hospitals where casualty, theatre, X-ray rooms and maternity wards were damaged by rain.
The North West department’s figures exclude the R100 million needed for the Witrand Specialised Hospital in Potchefstroom because the whole facility “requires refurbishment as the building is over 100 years [old]”.
Among the biggest financial outlays needed in the Eastern Cape are R11 million for roof fittings at Victoria Hospital in Alice, as well as R16 million and R21 million to replace the roofs at Needs Camp Clinic near East London and Willowmore Hospital, respectively.
Added stress on staff
The backlog in the Eastern Cape is amplified by the recent floods in the province, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people.
“The failure to repair existing damage compromises the province’s ability to respond to this growing humanitarian crisis,” stated Michele Clarke, the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson for health.
As well as affected patients, Clarke highlighted the stress placed on staff by a lack of administrative urgency.
“Public health personnel [need to] focus on providing treatment without worrying about the hazardous conditions in which they have to work,” she said.
Of the successfully completed repairs, Limpopo spent R4.2 million on 12 projects, while Gauteng spent R16.5 million on roofs, sewer pipelines and drainage systems at four facilities.
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest completed expenditure, with R59 million spent on 15 projects. This excludes R29 million listed for upcoming flood damage repairs at Addington Hospital.
The Western Cape had the largest number of weather-related repairs, with 47, but kept its total expenditure down to R19 million.
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